On Friday February 10, 2012 I went to a quarterly meeting of the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition ( www.SACN.gov.uk )

I was 1 of about 5 members of the public who sat in on their “private meeting, held in public”

Most of the meeting was about Iron & Iodine, with a 10-minute update from the Vitamin D sub-group

After the meeting had officially closed I was allowed to ask a question about Vitamin D, to which the answer was:  “See the latest message from the Chief Medical Officer”

I invite you to follow the labyrinthine links to the recent government messages about Vitamin D:

http://cno.dh.gov.uk/2012/02/06/vitamin-d-adivice-on-supplements-for-at-risk-groups/

Note that the UK definition of “deficiency” is:  25(OH)D less than 25nmol/L ( = 10 ng/mL )

If 25% of the UK population is deficient at this level, I wonder what the percentage would be if the level were set at 50 nmol/L or even 75 nmol/L

The official advice from the government is unlikely to change until the SACN issue their next report in mid 2014

Until then I will keep holding the SACN to account and trying to influence doctors and the general public, whose timescales are much shorter

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